Attack on Frank and Alice Longbottom
|participants=*Frank Longbottom *Alice Longbottom *Bellatrix Lestrange *Rodolphus Lestrange *Rabastan Lestrange *Bartemius Crouch Jr - From the Story: Mr and Mrs Longbottom |description=Death Eaters torture the Longbottoms for information on the whereabouts of Lord Voldemort }} The Attack on Frank and Alice Longbottom was committed by Death Eaters Bartemius Crouch Jr and Bellatrix, Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange shortly after the downfall of Lord Voldemort during the First Wizarding War in 1981. It was widely considered to be the most horrendous crime committed in the modern wizarding world by most wizards and witches. History Background ]] At the end of 1979, Lord Voldemort was at the peak of a reign of terror in the First Wizarding War. He was told of a prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney to Albus Dumbledore during a job interview. Trelawney told him of a boy who would be born in the closing days of July 1980 whose parents have defied Voldemort three times and lived to tell the tale of it. He would have a power that Voldemort was unable or unwilling to comprehend, who could one day kill him, and that Voldemort would pick the child who was equal to him. There were two children born at the end of July. On the 30 July, Neville Longbottom was born to Frank and Alice. However, Neville was pure-blood while the second child born the next day, Harry Potter, born to Lily and James Potter, was half-blood like Voldemort. Voldemort picked Harry believing he was the danger to him and he saw himself in Harry before even seeing him. After receiving their whereabouts from his spy Peter Pettigrew, he went to their home in Godric's Hollow and killed both James and Lily but failed to kill Harry due to Lily sacrificing her own life to save her child which created a powerful protection within her son that deflected Voldemort's killing curse which backfired upon him and destroyed his body, forcing him to flee from Britain and leaving the Death Eaters in disarray and chaos. The attack Four Death Eaters who had managed to evade capture by the Ministry resolved to find their master and return him to full strength. Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rodolphus, his brother Robustan, and Barty Crouch Jr targeted both Frank and Alice Longbottom for information about where Voldemort was due to the couple's strong reputation as Aurors who had fought Voldemort and his supporters successfully. Frank Longbottom was the first to be captured. He was subjugated and imprisoned at an undisclosed location, before being heavily tortured by all four of the Death Eaters with the Cruciatus Curse. The Death Eaters were hoping to find information about their fallen master in order to locate the Dark Lord and restore him to power. The group was convinced that the Longbottoms were involved with the Dark Lord's fall because they were included in the prophecy. Unaware that Lord Voldemort had fled to Albania, Frank Longbottom could not give them what they wanted. However, this did not discourage the four assailants from trying to uncover Voldemort's whereabouts. The torture resulted in Frank being so physically and mentally depleted that he spiralled into insanity. When he was unable to provide them with anything useful, they targeted Alice. She was kidnapped and tortured in the same manner. Although she had no knowledge of Voldemort's whereabouts, she was forced to endure the same torture and met the same fate as her husband. Aftermath Punishment and escape All four of the torturers were captured shortly after the attack and were brought before the Council of Magical Law for trial. Bartemius Crouch, Snr. presided primarily over the hearing, which was short and merciless; Crouch Jr screamed continuously at his father that he was innocent and begged fruitlessly for mercy. Crouch disowned his son, causing his wife to faint. The crime was described as so heinous that such a crime was rarely heard of in court. The crowd roared with savage pleasure when Crouch announced that he planned to send the Death Eaters to Azkaban for life, and the sentence was given without question. Less than a year after his sentence, Barty Crouch, Jr was aided to escape the prison by his parents . Mrs Crouch was dying and wanted nothing more than for her son to be free to enjoy the life he had been given. They took Polyjuice Potion to become each others' doubles, and Crouch Jr was liberated. As Bellatrix had told Crouch Snr at the end of the trial, their master would come for them and reward them for their loyalty to him. In January of 1996, Voldemort initiated a mass breakout from Azkaban, which set free ten long-imprisoned Death Eaters, including Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan. Effect on the victims The continuous use of the Curse destroyed the victims' sanity . Following the attack, Frank and Alice Longbottom were moved to the Janus Thickey Ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in London. Neville Longbottom, their son, was sent to live with his grandmother Augusta, Frank's mother, and visits his parents for Christmas and on summer holidays. Neither one recognised him as their son, but they did acknowledge his presence ; Alice gave him chewing gum wrappers every time he came to see them, so many that he could paper his bedroom with them if he so desired. File:Frank1.jpg|Frank Longbottom (victim) File:Alice1.jpg|Alice Longbottom (victim) File:Barty jr cropped.jpg|Bartemius Crouch Jr (attacker) File:Bella2.jpg|Bellatrix Lestrange (attacker) Rodolphus Lestrange à Azkaban.jpg|Rodolphus Lestrange (attacker) Rabastan face.jpeg|Rabastan Lestrange (attacker) Appearances * * * * * Notes and references pt-br:Ataque a Franco e Alice Longbottom Category:Battles of the First Wizarding War